Yeah, Rob ~~ I'm tired of the merry-go-round, too -- and not ashamed to admit that I was also less than perfectly sober when I wrote the WeSaySo post, nor that it was written "past" you to some of the less flexible thinkers in this place... sorry 'bout that.

Throwing some ideas and questions around for discussion:

The possibility remains that these weapons were moved out of the country. Can you admit to that?

Sure, I can admit the possiblity. I can even entertain the notion that it could have been done without being detected by surveillance satellites. But where, and to what purpose, and who's got them now?

Iraq didn't exactly have cordial relations with the rest of the region. I've heard Syria mentioned as about the only possible country the weapons could have been taken to -- it would have had to be an over-land route, since we had the sky and the sea nailed down with the no-fly zones and the sanctions embargo.

I don't know if Assad was tight enough with Saddam to go for the idea, if it was an "official" secret. If the Syrian government accepted delivery (for storage), what might have been the arrangement for Iraq getting them back? Could Assad have believed Saddam (or someone else high up in the Baath party) would retain or regain power?

So maybe the weapons went to Syrian land, but not to the Syrian government . . . which basically means, anyone could have them. So why haven't they been used? We're talking about fanatics who'd not hesitate to use CBW, if they had them.

[On the UN inspections] Maybe that could have worked if the inspectors were accompanied by a sizable number troops to guarantee unrestricted access.

That's one of my favorite notions: give the UN some teeth. Authorize the independent recruitment, training and outfitting of an international armed force, instead of "borrowing" detatchments from the armies of various countries and putting blue helmets on them. Probably should have been started in 1946, but does that make it too late now?